Machine for making corrugated and saw-toothed metal fastener-strips.



E. S. NORTON. MACHINE POR MAKING GORRUGATED ANDSAW TOOTHED METALFASTENBR STRIPS.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 18. 1907.

Patented May 3, 1910.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

"ANDREW EA GM'HAM cu. PwoTo-LITNDGRAFAEHS. wAsmNcrcN, n c.

EQ s. NORTON. MAGHINE POR MAKING GORRUGATED AND SAW TOOTHED METALFASTENER STRIPS.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 18`. 1907.

Patented May 3, 1910.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

zzEg E. S. NORTON. MACHINE POR MAKING GORRUGA'IED AND SAW TOOTHED METALFASTENER STRIPS.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 18. 1907.

Patented May 3, 1910.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

FEED STATS PATENT OFFICE.

ELLIOTT S. NORTON, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO ACME FLEXIBLE CLASPCOMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

MACHINE FOR MAKING CORRUGATED AND SAV-TOOTHED METAL FASTENER-STRIPS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 3, 1910.

Application filed January 18, 1907. Serial No. 352,920.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ELLIOTT S. NORTON, a citizen of the United States,residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Machines for MakingCorrugated and Saw-Toothed Metal Fastener-Strips, of which the followingis a specication.

The invention relates to the production of corrugated metal fastenerswith saw-tooth penetrating' and cutting edges and aims to overcomecertain practical ditiiculties in the commercial production of thisdesirable form ,of corrugated metal fastener.

It is obvious that t-he beveling of a corrugated strip on opposite sidesalong the acting edge will produce the saw-tooth for mation desired, buta problem has heretofore existed as to beveling means which will turnout the product in a satisfactory condition at a non-prohibitive cost.The usual methods of sharpening, suoli as grinding and the like7 whenapplied to a corrugated metal strip unduly heat the same and areproductive of burs in the U-shaped portions and wire edges which must beremoved before the fastener is fit for use. The successful removal ofthese objectionable burs and wire edges requires a rather nice operationnecessarily pursued by hand. This would obviously be prohibitive ofsuccessful marketing when it is considered that an article of thischaracter used extensively in such low-grade work e. g. as the making ofpacking boxes, must be turned out in large quantities by automaticmachinery, requiring little if any further treatment, in order to beprofitable.

The present invention accomplishes the desideratum by providing amachine wherein a single operation on each side of the strip of metalserves to produce the desired contour and character of acting edge onsaid strip, the strip being first corrugated and then suitably clampedwhile cutting tools Operate on opposite sides thereof each removing at asingle stroke the metal of the strip between the ridges of thecorrugations and their median longitudinal line at the acting edge, andthe cut being of course taken diagonally of the strip with reference tothe thickness thereof.

In the accompanying drawings which form part of this speciiicationFigure l represents in side elevation a complete machine embodying thepresent invention; Fig. 2 represents a top plan view of the coilingportion of said machine; Fig. 3 represents sawtoothing` portions of themachine in section substantially on line 3 3 of Fig. l but on largerscale; Fig. 4 represents an end view of the machine where the blankstrip or ribbon enters, some parts being broken away; F ig. 5 is asection on an enlarged scale of certain parts which appear in elevationin Fig. 4; Fig. G represents a front end view on an enlarged scale ofparts omitted from Fig. 4: and some associated parts which appeartherein; Fig'. 7 represents a top plan view on an enlarged scale of thecorrugating and saw-toothing portion of the machine, omittingknife-heads and superposed parts; Fig. 8 represents the corrugated stripin end view and a portion of one of the beveling cutters in associationtherewith, the oppositely acting cutter being represented in dottedlines; Fig. 9 represents in side view a portion of the corrugated andsaw-toothed metal strip; Fig. `l represents in plan View on an enlargedscale portions of the corrugating rolls and the metal strip passingbetween the same; Fig. 1l represents a development of part of theperiphery of one of said corrugating rolls; Fig. l2 is a fragmentaryside elevation of a guiding disk for the corrugated coil associated witha eircular block or core on which the coil is wound; and Fig. 13represents in perspective a complete coil or corrugated and sawtoothedmetal strip with its core and holder or hanger.

Referring rst to Figs. l and et the numeral 2 designates a standardsupporting a bed plate 3, below a power-press head 2a. At one end ofthis bed plate there is secured by suitable flanges and adjustment slotsand bolts, a frame 5, within which a pair of corrugating rolls 6 arejournaled (Fig. 6). These rolls lie horizontally and are secured tospindles 7 supported in bearing blocks 8 which occupy slideways in thetop and bottom of the frame and are adjustable therein through themedium of screws 9 and locknuts 10. Spur gears 11 secured to saidspindles and meshing with each other serve to transmitmotion between thetwo corrugating rolls and one of the spindles carries at its extendedlower end a bevel gear 12 meshing with a similar gear 13 on a shortshaft 14 journaled in a bearing depending from the frame 5, as shown inFigs. 4 and 6. A ratchet wheel 15 secured on the outer end of this shaftand a pawl 16 on an arm 17 turning loosely on the shaft serve tointermittently turn the shaft and the gears for the purpose of feedingand corrugating the metal strip a which passes between the iolls G. Thepawl may be swung back and forth at regular intervals through anysuitable driving connections applied to the arm 17, the operation beingof course timed so that the strip will be fed between cuts. In thepresent instance said arm is shown connected with a linl 17a cranked toa disk 17b on the power-press shaft 1.

The corrugating rolls are best shown in Figs. l() and 11. They are ofcourse mated so that their corrugations will register. rlhe corrugatedperiphery of each comprises a plurality of sets or series of ridges andac companying depressions angularly disposed with reference to the aXisof the roll but longitudinally plane parallel therewith, the sets orseries extending alternately on opposite angles or divergently. On theone roll there intervene between the sets of ridges 6 with accompanyingdepressions 6b extending on one angle and the sets of ridges 6C withaccompanying depressions 6d extending on the opposite angle, taperingridges 6e and of (Fig. 11), alternating in direction of taper'. On theother roll correspondingly alternating tapered depressions 6g and 6h liebetween the divergent sets of corrugat-ions. In operation the ridges 6a,GC, 6e and 6f of the one roll enter the depressions 6i, 6j, 6h and 6grespectively of the other roll whose ridges 6k and 6m of course enterthe depressions 6b and 6d respectively of the first roll.

It will be seen that a plain strip or ribbon of metal run straight intothe bite of the above-described rolls will be divergently corrugatedthereby and will issue without being diverted from the straight line oftravel as fed to the rolls, for the strip is not shortened bycorrugation any more toward one edge than the other, since thedivergence alternates. Hence the corrugated strip is deliveredindefinitely in shape to be wound upon itself and form a compact coil oftrue cylindrical contour as shown in Fig. 13,-a result attainable wheredivergence is sought by simple radiation of corrugations. Thus a productmay be produced specially adapted for handling in bulk ready for usewith the nailing or fastener driving machine into which the corrugatedstrip can be directly fed as uncoiled, the Jfastener being automaticallysevered from the strip in suitable' lengths by such machine as required.

The means here shown for ceiling the corrugated strip will be describedafter first describing the means for saw-toothing its edge, the latterwork being done prior to the coiling. After issuing from the corrugatingroll the strip passes between guides 18 (Fig. 7 secured to the bed plate3 by suitable base flanges and conducting the corrugated strip to thecutting tools. At about the middle of the bed plate a block 2O issecured across its top and this block is channeled in the line of thestrip feed to accommodate abar 21 which is itself channeledlongitudinally from end to end in the line of the guideway leading fromthe corrugating rolls, which guideway delivers the corrugated strip intothe channel of the bar, as clearly illustrated in Fig. 7. To one side ofthe said channel there is detachably secured an elongated plate 22 ofhardened metal shouldered longitudinally to provide a horizontal ledgeor shelf 23, preferably b-eveled on its under side as shown in Fig. 8.The corrugated strip is conducted over this ledge of shelf which forms aback-stop for the same during the cutting operations. The said plate ofhardened metal is held in place by screws 24 -and may be removed andreplaced by a similar plate whenever necessary in order to accommodate adifferent width of corrugated strip, the ledge or shelf of thesubstituted plate being at a diderent elevation from that of the removedplate. That portion of the bar 21 at the side of this channel oppositethat to which the said hardened plate is secured does not rise to theheight of the latter but terminates on a plane below the ledge or shelfand over this part of said bar a horizontally disposed clamp 25 slides.Said clamp is in the form of a rectangular plate occupying a guideway inthe block 2O and is designed to be forced against the corrugated stripa, where the latter rests upon the shelf or ledge 23, said corrugatedstrip being thereby held securely in position during the cuttingoperation, with its upper portion project-ing above the clamp and theshouldered plate as clearly shown in Fig. 3.

The block 20 is flanged at opposite sides and between the flanges aremounted a pair of tool heads 26 side by side, (Fig. 4), suitably securedin place and each formed with an inclined tool guideway 29 (Fig. 3)extending through it from top to bottom, that in one tool head extendingreversely to that in the other so that they occupy intersecting planesas illustrated in Fig. 3. Both tool heads are recessed in the lower sideto accommodate the portion of the bar 21 projecting above the block 20and also the portion of the corrugating strip projecting above said barand the disposition of the tool guideways 29 is such that theintersecting line of the planes in which their inner sides lie runsdirectly over a median line of the upper edge of the corrugated stripwhen the latter is resting on the shelf or ledge 23. Tool holders 30occupy the guideways 29 respectively and are adapted to reciprocatetherein, each holder carrying a tool in the form of a cutting blade 31whose edge is normally coincident with the before-mentioned line ofintersection of planes of the guideways. Thus the cutting tools standready to enter the edge of the corrugated strip practically at themedian line thereof and out angularly through the strip to the ridges ofthe corrugations thereof, thereby removing from each corrugation a slugZ) such as illustrated in Fig. 8. The cutting tools are preferablyarranged in tandem as above explained, so that they do not act upon thesame length of strip While the latter is clamped in one position but onetool4 acts upon such length of strip while the other tool is acting uponthe following length of strip, of course at the opposite side thereoffrom that upon which the front tool is acting. Upon the next advance ofthe strip the length of the saine already acted upon by the rear tool ispresented for the action of the front tool and thereafter the strip willof course be acted upon on both sides so that the product turned outwill be a corrugated metal fastener strip double-beveled, as illustratedin Fig. S and saw-toothed as illustrated in Fig. 9.

The above-described inode of beveling the strip entirely obviates thedifficulty encountered in grinding operations, viz., that. of heatingand turning the strip and producing burs and wire edges, for it will beseen that each cutting tool makes a clean slice through the edge andsides of the corrugated strip, removing' from each corrugation thereofsimply a single slug as distinguished from grinding away of the metalwith the waste product in comminuted condition. Thus the desired form ofmetal fastener can be produced by a single cutting operation on eachside and a product turned out requiring no further operations upon it t0make it t for use, so far as the penetrating edge is concerned.

The means here shown for reciprocating the cutting tools and advancingthe clamp in proper time comprise a plunger 33 cranked to the shaft land carrying a holder 34 (Fig. 5) for a pair of adjustable bearingblocks 35, with inclined lower faces for contact with rollers 36 in theupper ends of the tool holders 30. The latter are normally elevated byspiral springs 37 (Fig. 3) occupying recesses in the heads 26 andbearing against lateral lugs or flanges 39 of said holders. The bearingblocks 35 are adjustable cross-wise the holder 34 and arranged withtheir inclined lower sides reversibly disposed for proper coperationwith the rollers 36. It will be seen that the adjustment of these blocksmay be availed of to compensate for any wear. The downward pressure oftheir inclined under faces against the rollers 36 of course operates toforce the holders 30 and their cutting blades 3l downward through theguideways 39 and thus effect the beveling of the corrugated strip in themanner already described.

The plunger 33 carries a bracket 41 in which is pivoted the upper end ofa bar 42 extending at its lower end between rollers 43 and 44, one in aprojecting bracket of the block 2O and the other in the outer end of theclamp plate 25. The inner side of this depending bar 42 is formed with acam-rise 45, so that when the bar moves downwardly with the plunger theclamp plate will be thrust inwardly by the action of the camrise againstthe roller 44. A spiral spring 46 occupying a recess in the block 20 andbearing against the depending portion of the clamp plate tends to thrustthe latter outwardly, (Fig.

The block 20 and the clamp plate are formed with suitable openings 47,48, (Fig. 3), for the escape of the slugs from the corrugated strips andthe inner side of the opening in the clamp plate is preferably beveledas sho-wn in Fig. 3 to facilitate the escape of the slugs and preventtheir lodging between the clamp and .the strip. The bevel on theunderside of the shoulder of the plate 22, heretofore mentioned,prevents such slugs remaining so lodged upon this plate as to obstructthe clamp in its movement toward the corrugated strip. It

the ledge H3 does not extend the full thickness of the corrugated strip.Slugs which may lodge between the clamp and the uncut portion of thestrip will pass under the latter and into the channel of the bar 2l,said channel being wide enough to provide considerable space between oneside and the shouldered plate 22, as clearly shown in Fig. 3.

Passing now to the coiling mechanism the numeral 49 designates a columnlocated at some distance from the above-described corrugating andbeveling mechanism, said column having a guide-way 50 for the corrugatedstrip. The latter is allowed considerable slack between the column andbeveling mechanism, one purpose of which is to permit of a continuousadvance of the strip for coiling purposes notwithstanding theintermittent advance for corrugating and beveling purposes. The slackalso provides for ready inspection of the corrugated and beveled stripwithout interrupting the operation of the machine. Furthermore, thisslack permits of the strip being given a quarterturn so as to runthrough the column 49 lying horizontally whereas when being corrugatedand beveled it stands upright. Beyond the column 49 a pair of tootheddisks 5l and 52 receive the corrugated strip bewill be remembered inthis connection that tween them and advance it continuously.r points ofthe saw-tooth edge.

The lower toothed disk 52 is an idler deriving motion from the upperdisk 51 through the medium of the` corrugated strip itself when thelatter is between the two disks. These disks are comparatively thin anddesigned to engage the corrugated strip along a median line thereof soas to feed it uniformly notwithstanding the divergence in thecorrugations. The upper disk 51 is secured to a shaft 53 which carries abevel gear 5-1 (F ig. in mesh with a similar gear 55 on a shaft 56 whichextends behind the press-head and carries a sprocket-wheel 57 (Figs. land t) operatively connected through a sprocket-chain 58 with asprocketwheel 59 on the shaft l. The shaft 56 is journaled in suitablebearings on the presshead and the column 49 and it will be seen thatthrough the described gearing continuous rotation will be imparted tothe said disks 51 and 52. Journal bearings for said disks are providedby an upright 6() on an arm 61 of a standard 62 which also has a journalbearing for the ceiling shaft 63. The latter carries a pulley 64operatively connected through a belt 65 with a pulley 66 secured to theshaft 53.

The coiling shaft 63 has secured to it a plain metal disk 67 of adiameter somewhat exceeding that which the coil is permitted to attain.The plain or unbeveled edge of the corrugated strip lies against thefront face of the disk 67 during the coiling operation, said diskserving to aline the edges of the convolutions. The shaft 63 projectsforwardly beyond the disk to receive a circular block or core 68preferably of wood adapted to lie against the outer face of the disk andperforated eccentrically as shown at 69 (Fig. 12) to receive a stud 7 0projecting from the face of the disk. Thus the disk and core arerotatively connected and both will be turned with the coiler shaftthrough the described connection with the continuously running shaft 53.The block or core 68 is formed with a radial slit in its periphery asshown at 71 in Fig. 12. lVhen the coiling operation is to commence theadvance end of the corrugated strip is bent and engaged with said slit.rl`hen as the core rotates, properly timed with r-eference to the feeddisks, the corrugated strip will be wound upon the core in spiralconvolutions. Slippage of the belt 65 on the pulleys will compensate forincreased surface speed of the coil as it cnlarges. The shaft 63projects sufficiently beyond the core to receive a plain disk of wood 72and a nut 73 to hold the latter in place. Said wood disk is of the samediameter as the metal disk 67 and performs a similar function aliningthe sawtoothed edges of the convolutions of corrugated strip. lVood isemployed as a material in order to prevent dulling of the lVhen thestrip has been coiled to the desired size the nut 73 is screwed off, thewood disk 72 removed and the coil and its core slipped olf of the shaft,the corrugated strip being of course severed at an appropriate pointbeyond the feed disks 5l and 52. The free end of the coil is generallytied down and the coil put in a suitable holder or hanger such forexample as shown at 75 in Fig. 13, and in the patent to James E.MacMurray, No. 708,378, dated September 2, 1902.

It will be observed that in the product produced by the above-describedapparatus the sets or series of parallel corrugations extendingangularly across the strip alternating with sets or series of similarcorrugations extending on an opposite angle and that taperingcorrugations intervene alternating in the direction of taper. Bysevering such a strip along a median line of every other one of saidtapering corrugations commencing with one whose narrow end is at thesaw-toothed edge of the strip, (see dotted lines @-0, Fig. 9), thelatter can be cut up into fasteners, each comprising angularcorrugations which diverge as they extend from the back or impact edgeof the fastener to the front or penetrating edge. Thus there is produceda fastener which when driven into abutted pieces of material will act todraw the same together, the sawtoothed edge effecting a clean cut eventhough the material may be of a corky character and hence preserving acontinued close engagement between the material and the corrugations ofthe fastener such as to insure the above-described action of thedivergent corrugations. It will be understood that the points of thesaw-toothed edge are suliicicntly ne to readily penetrate and the V-formation between these points eifects a draw-cut, so that there is nodanger of breaking down the fibers of the material operated upon and aconsequent impairment of the close engagement between the corrugationsand the material.

lVhile the above-described mechanism is well adapted to produce thedescribed product it is to be understood as susceptible of modicationwit-hin the scope of the invention.

That is claimed is:

1. In a machine of the character described, the combination of means forclamping a cross-corrugated metal strip in position to be operated upon,and a cutting tool movable crosswise of the strip diagonally withrelation thereto for severing therefrom at a single operation the metalbetween a median longitudinal line of the corrugations and the ridges ofthe latter.

2. In a machine of the character described, the combination of means forclamping a cross-corrugated metal strip in position to be operated upon,and cutting tools mounted diagonally with relation to each other andmovable diagonally of the strip to sever therefrom at a single operationon opposite sides the metal between a median longitudinal line of thecorrugations and the ridges of the same.

3. In a machine of the character described, the combination of means forclamping a cross-corrugated metal strip in position to be operated upon,and cutting tools mounted diagonally with relation to each other andmovable diagonally of the strip to sever therefrom at a single operationon opposite sides the metal between a median longitudinal line of thecorrugations and the ridges of the same, said tools being off-set withrelation to each other for simultaneous operation on the strip.

4. In a machine of the character described, the combination of means forclamping a cross-corrugated metal strip in position to be operated upon,a cutting tool movable cross-wise of the strip diagonally with relationthereto for severing therefrom at a single operation the metal between amedian longitudinal line of the corrugations and the ridges of the same,and means for reciprocating said tool comprising a press head and anadjustable bearing block oarried thereby and having an inclined side toactuate the tool.

5. In a machine of the character described, the combination of means forclamping a cross-corrugated metal strip in position to be operated upon,cutting tools mounted diagonally with relation to each other and movablediagonally of the strip to sever therefrom at a single operation themetal between a median longitudinal line of the corrugations and theridges of the same, and means for actuating said tools comprising apress head and a pair of adjustable bearing blocks with reverselyinclined sides to actuate the tools.

6. In a machine of the character described, the combination of a clampfor holding a cross-corrugated metal strip in position to be operatedupon, a cutting tool movable cross-wise of the strip diagonally withrelation thereto for severing therefrom at a single operation the metalbetween a median longitudinal line of the corrugations and the ridges ofthe same, a press head for reciprocating said tool and a cam carried bysaid head for actuating the clamp, substantially as described.

7. In a machine of the character described, the combination of ahorizontal guideway having a ledge for the strip standing on edge, meansfor clamping the strip in said guideway above said ledge, and a cuttingtool movable cross-wise of the strip diagonally with relation theretofor severing therefrom at a single operation the metal between a medianlongitudinal line of the corrugations and the ridges of the same.

8. In a machine of the character described, the combination of ahorizontal guide-way having a ledge for the strip standing on edge,means for clamping the strip in said guideway above said ledge, andcutting tools mounted diagonally with relation to each other and movablediagonally of the strip to sever therefrom at a single operation onopposite sides the metal between a median longitudinal line of thecorrugations and the ridges of the same.

9. In a machine of the character described, the combination of ahorizontal guideway having a ledge for the strip standing on edge, aclamp horizontally movable across said guideway opposite its ledge, anda cutting tool movable cross-wise of the strip diagonally with relationthereto for severing therefrom at a single operation the metal between amedian longitudinal line of the corrugations and the ridges of the same.

10. In a machine of the character described, the combination of ahorizontal guideway having a ledge for the strip and an inclined surfaceunder the ledge with a space adjacent thereto, a clamp platehorizontally movable transverse said guideway opposite the ledge and acutting tool movable cross-wise of the strip diagonally with relationthereto for severing therefrom at a single' operation the metal betweena median longitudinal line of the corrugations and the ridges of thesame.

ELLIOTT S. NORTON.

Witnesses:

F. P. DAVIS, Louis B. ERWIN.

